A Recurring Dream
by Mystery of the Emblem
Summary: Ever since she was a child, Emmeryn had been plagued by a recurring dream. It haunted her and robbed her of sleep, but she could not bring herself to share it. Who would believe the Exalt if she claimed she knew how she would die? But the actions of two people change her life, and change the dream, but not for the better.


**I've been thinking a bit of Emmeryn and Uther, and how they are basically plot devices for younger siblings to take the throne. I do plan to work with Uther later, but for now, here's a visit with Emm.**

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Though the castle around her slept, the Exalt paced her room. She tried her best to not show her feelings, keeping a serene facade up for her younger siblings, but something had shaken Emmeryn deeply. She could not sleep, but she was thankful. Sleep had become somewhat fearful for her. What was worse, she had lost some of her freedom. There were guards outside her door at all hours, and if she left her room, they would surely ask what was wrong, or follow her. Emmeryn chose the solitude of her room over fretting chaperones.

She crossed over to the window and unlatched it. The cool night air gently caressed her face. She sighed and leaned against the windowsill. The stars above glittered, and the moonlight shone off the polished armor of the castle guards as they patrolled the grounds. She was safe, and yet she could not enjoy it.

Perhaps if she had taken a husband, she could lean on him in such time. Though dozens of men had been brought before her, almost as soon as she had sat on the throne, she had turned them all away. For Emmeryn understood something that everyone around her did not. It was _Chrom_ who was born to lead their people, not her. But it was never something she could bring herself to say to him. She knew, if offered the throne, he would refuse it. He loved his life and his freedom, his shepherding as he referred to it. A faint smile played at her lips as she thought of her siblings. Both of them so carefree... or so they had been until a few nights ago.

"It felt so long coming." Her soft voice was carried off into the night air, unheard by anyone.

As a child, she started having a recurring dream. At first, it meant nothing to young Emmeryn. It was only shapes and noise. Still, the dreams left her shaken when she would wake. As a child, she had once decided that she would _not_ sleep. That she would stay up all night to avoid the blurry visions and startling sounds. It had failed, of course. She would awaken the next morning uncomfortable from having fallen asleep on the floor or sitting at her desk.

It took years to realize that the dreams occurred in her bedroom.

That had frightened Emmeryn. The castle servants thought their exalt mad when she demanded they completely redecorate her room. She had quickly regained her composure and told them as a growing young woman, she felt her room needed to be more mature.

That night, asleep in her own bed in her newly furnished room, the dream became more clear. The blur was lifted, and she realized with a start, as she woke up weeping to herself that night, that the furnishings of her room, from the red rug to the dark wooden desk and down to the floral jewelry box her little sister Lissa had picked out, had _always_ been there. Even her sheets and blanket had been the same, and they had been made just for her.

She had cried to herself that entire night, scrunched in a ball in the corner, unable to bring herself to sleep. No one knew that dream. Not even _she_ had fully known how the room looked. So how had everything been right, and in the exact same place? Emmeryn had known she could not ask to have everything changed again. The room had been perfect. She had happily thanked everyone who had a hand in it.

The mere memory of it was still enough to raise goosebumps on her arms.

It was Chrom who had finally confronted her. "Don't you like your new room, Emm?" he asked one day as he fell in step with her in the garden. "You hardly spend time in there. And you look like you haven't slept in days."

Emmeryn had raised a hand to her cheek. She could not deny it. Her face was puffy and she had bags under her eyes. "I am having a little trouble adjusting," she said. The lie had come so easily, it surprised even her. "I'll be fine."

She could tell he did not fully believe her, but he left the subject alone. It was exhaustion that had finally done her in one night. She slept the entire night without a single dream.

And that was how her nights had been for a very long time. "Maybe the dreams have stopped," she whispered to her empty room one night.

But they returned.

That night they changed further. She could see herself in her bed, but the dream Emmeryn was not sleeping. She clutched the blanket to her chest, a look of fear on her face. "Who are you?" she asked. Her trembling voice barely raised above a whisper. "How did you get here?"

A shadowy figure lurked above her, dagger in hand. It flashed in the stranger's hand as it was brought down -

She had later been told by Chrom, who was trying to make light of the situation, that her screams had raised the entire castle. Two knights had been able to rush into the Exalt's room, while the rest wound up clogged in the doorway. "Milady, what is it? Are you hurt?"

Tearfully, Emmeryn had explained that she dreamed of some unknown assassin. The guards all relaxed, but each searched her room, in every little nook and cranny, to put her at ease that there were no attackers in her room. Nor would they allow anyone anywhere near her room without her permission. When that did not reassure her, she was offered a sleeping draught. She took it with no hesitation.

Over the years, Emmeryn knew she could not rely on them forever. Word would spread if she often requested one.

The dream slowly played out over and over for a very long time. Sometimes, it would not come at all. Other times, it would stay with her for many nights. It soon became so common that she no longer feared it.

And when she finally saw the full vision, as she had come to know it, she had reached the point of acceptance. The only thing she had to fear at that point was her brother and sister finding her in her bloodsplattered bed. If only she could think of a way to spare them that pain.

But someone else stepped in and chose to spare them for her. That mysterious young girl... she had shown up and killed an assassin that Chrom had later told her was after him. Emmeryn had felt foolish. She had never given any consideration to the fact that while she was cut down in her own bed, assassins would not be after her siblings as well. "Chrom," she said softly. Her eyes had filled with tears. She bit her lip as Chrom smiled in response.

"I'm still here, Sister," he told her. "Don't cry."

She gave him a brave, yet watery, smile. "Go on, then," she told him.

He continued to tell her what had happened. How the young woman, passing herself off as a young man at that point, had saved him and warned him that Emmeryn was in trouble herself. She had seen it, he said with disbelief, and she had come to stop it. He and his friends, his Shepherds, had come to her aid, along with a young thief and a Taguel woman. Thanks to that ragtag group, they had saved her life. She had felt such relief she feared her heart might burst, but she did not express it. She could only thank the heroes that remained to her, as the young woman calling herself Marth disappeared into the night.

Emmeryn had gladly gone to her bed that night. Even though others were shaken, she was calm. With her death averted, that dream would surely leave her.

It turned out that changing her dream only meant changing the dream.

She awoke with a start. Her heart pounded in her chest as she realized the brave efforts that night had done nothing. She could almost feel the hot Plegian sun on her skin, the breeze that had blown her gown. Her brother and sister's screams still rang in her ears. It was their cries that twisted her stomach in knots, not the idea of a long plunge from a Plegian cliff. Had she known that challenging her fate, even just so, would cause her brother and sister so much pain, she would have gladly fallen in her own room.

Still...

The efforts by that girl saved her brother. If anything happened to him, she had no idea what would happen to Ylisse. She could not allow Plegia to take control of her people. If making a sacrifice of herself would help, in any way, she would have to go that route and pray her siblings would one day forgive her.

When the sound of voices outside her door, Emmeryn realized she had been at the windowsill for some time, lost in her own thoughts. "What's going on now?" she wondered aloud.

She opened the door to find a sheepish Chrom speaking with her guards. "Emm, did I wake you?"

"No, I haven't gone to bed," she admitted. She had to smile. Here he was, still trying to protect her, and she could not even explain that his efforts were pointless. She would be fine until they reached Plegia. But no one would understand the visions that had come to her in the night, so she kept them to herself. "Why are you awake?"

"I can't sleep," Chrom admitted.

"Of course not. How can you sleep at night when you nap so during the day?" The guards hid their laughter with forced coughs. "There is no one on the castle grounds that should not be here, Chrom. You have no need to patrol the corridors. I do not wish to have to order you to stop worrying." She knew he would worry no matter what.

"Robin has said no one would be foolish enough to try to attack you so soon after someone else failed," Chrom agreed. "It's just hard not to fret. Ylisse needs you, Emmeryn."

 _'Ylisse needs_ you,' she thought.

A thousand questions raced through her mind. She wanted to ask if he had been checking on her every night since the attack. She wanted to know if he checked on Lissa as well. Had he made sure to repair the hole he had made during training, the one "Marth" had slipped through? Was he resting enough? But the only thing she asked of him was a sleeping draught.

"Perhaps you should get one for yourself?" she added.

Chrom chuckled and promised to return with one if she truly wanted it. She said she did and retreated to her room. He entered her room a moment later, the small bottle clutched in his hand. "Are you sure this is what you need?"

"Yes," she said as she took the bottle from him. To his surprise, she kissed his cheek in thanks. "A night of dreamless sleep is all I ask right now. Good night, Chrom."

"Good night, Emm."

She waited for him to shut the door before she removed the stopper. She inhaled the faintly sweet aroma of the dark mixture before she drank it. With a sigh, Emmeryn sank down on her pillows and waited for sleep to take her.


End file.
